SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA

Santa Maria della Vittoria - click to enlarge

Santa Maria della Vittoria is so called to celebrate the victory of the Catholic League obtained in 1620 against the Protestants of the Evangelical League at White Mountain, near Prague.
The church was designed by the great Carlo Maderno (Capolago Ticino 1556 - Rome 1629), that we remember gave the final shape to St. Peter's in the Vatican and executed the façade.

Following the project of Maderno, Giovanni Battista Soria (Rome 1581-1651) built the façade of S. Maria della Vittoria that harmonizes with that of the adjacent Santa Susanna, as well it by Maderno.

The interior, a single nave, is one of the most extraordinary examples of Baroque art.

In the second chapel on the right side Domenichino (1581 - 1641), painted the altarpiece with the Madonna, the Child and St. Francis; on the walls St. Francis in ecstasy and St. Francis receiving the stigmata.
In the right transept St. Joseph's Dream is the work of the famous Domenico Guidi (1625 - 1701).

click to enlarge
Domenichino, The altarpiece	Domenico Guidi, St. Joseph's Dream

By Luigi Serra (1846-1888) is the painting in the apse; the frescoes in the dome and the vault are by Giovanni Domenico Cerrini called Cavalier Perugino (1609 - 1681).

In the left transept we see a masterpiece of Gian Lorenzo Bernini: Santa Teresa transfixed by the love of God.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Santa Teresa transfixed by the love of God - click to enlarge

The altarpiece of the third chapel on the left side is the work of Guercino (1591 – 1666)), while on the side wall there is the portrait of Cardinal Gessi by Guido Reni (1575 – 1642).

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